Conditions: mostly clear skies, gentle winds, temp at 62F; sunset time 7:57PM

Out on Crow Patrol along south side of Merrimack River just east of the Rt. 495 Bridge. Initial sightings were made of Crows streaming past, downriver, to gather in staging areas well before sunset time. At 8 minutes after sunset time, the first wave of Crows were seen streaming upriver, towards the general overnight roost area. This image below from south side of Merrimack River looking towards the airport.

The flight streams, moving upriver towards the roost area continued, with an initial group of Crows starting to land and perch in the roost area treetops, very close to the Rt. 495 Bridge and at 12 minutes after sunset time.

The flight streams continued over the next 25 minutes, with most of the flight action just above and besides the tree tops along the north edge of the river. This image shows a group of almost 100 Crows streaming towards the roost area about 23 minutes after sunset time.

The majority of Crows had settled into the roost by 30 minutes after sunset time. The image below was captured about 28 minutes after sunset time, looking east towards the airport, at 28 minutes after sunset time. A bit later, the Crows moved to lower elevations close to the water’s edge.

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Photo gear used for this outing:

Canon EOS 80D with Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS 

Canon EOS 80D with Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (Infrared)

Canon 1DX MK II with Canon EF Telephoto Zoom 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ATN BinoX 4K 4-16x Day and Night Smart HD Binoculars with photo/video

SiOnyx Aurora Pro Digital Color Night Vision Optics

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Blog post and photos by Craig Gibson, 2021 Crow Patrol, Lawrence, MA